AUS vs IND 2025: 'Jasprit Bumrah is wayward when desperate for wickets' - T20 World Cup winner's stunning remark after 2nd T20I

Published - 01 Nov 2025, 16:02 IST | Updated - 01 Nov 2025, 16:03 IST

2007 T20 World Cup winner Robin Uthappa opined that India's bowling performance was wayward in the second T20I against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, October 31. The bowlers didn't have too many runs to play with as India were bowled out for 125 in 18.4 overs after being asked to bat first. Australia romped home in 13.2 overs, with four wickets to spare.

Former India batter Uthappa stated that the Men in Blue could have given Australia a tough time with their quality spinners in the middle overs, but for that to happen, the new-ball bowlers needed to pick wickets upfront.

"When we were bowling after scoring 125, the start was very important. If we had picked up two or three wickets in the first three or four overs, the game could have been closer because we have quality spinners in the middle overs. I felt we were probably trying too hard to pick up wickets. So we got a little wayward," Uthappa said.

Uthappa also said that India's talismanic pacer Jasprit Bumrah gets a bit wayward when he is desperately searching for wickets.

"I have observed that whenever Bumrah gets desperate to pick up wickets, he becomes slightly wayward, and when he is disciplined and hits a good line and length, he mostly picks up wickets. Australia took full advantage of that waywardness at the start, the way we started with the ball in the second innings," Uthappa added.

While Uthappa praised Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana for their batting performances, he expressed his disappointment with the lack of application from the other batters. The cricketer-turned-expert said that the young Indian team will learn a lot from the encounter.

Ex-IND star slams Abhishek's intent in 2nd T20I vs AUS

"Slightly disappointing, because you had obviously lost the toss, but the batters could have given themselves a little time. They chose the aggressive batting option and they lost too many wickets in the first six overs because of that," he said.

"Abhishek had to manage the innings after six overs. He had a good partnership with Harshit, but apart from that partnership, no batter stood with him, so that India could have scored at least 150. This team will get a lot of learning from this. This young team will have to understand that there is a slight extra bounce here and they will have to adjust their game plans accordingly," Uthappa observed.